The timeless story of Cyrano de Bergerac gets a modern twist in this fresh and vibrant teen comedy starring Alex Lawther as an awkward but imaginative pupil helping his alpha male classmate pursue the fiery daughter of a visiting French teacher.

‘Survival of the fittest’ is the philosophy at the all-boys boarding school of Caldermount. If you’re not a champion on the sports field, you’re a nobody. No one knows this better than bookworm Amberson (Lawther), who’s been at the bottom of the school’s social ladder for as long as he can remember. But when the French teacher’s impassioned daughter Agnes (Pauline Etienne) arrives, Amberson’s life is turned upside down as he suddenly finds himself playing matchmaker for Winchester (Jonah Hauer-King), the handsome but spectacularly dim school-hero. Winchester definitely has the looks to win over Agnes but it’s Amberson who has the wits. Will Amberson have the courage to reveal himself to her and stand up for who he really is?

Director Toby Macdonald (whose previous short films Je t’aime John Wayne and Heavy Metal Drummer went down a storm at Encounters Short Film Festival) effortlessly makes the leap to feature filmmaking with this wonderfully-staged and hugely endearing debut. And lead Alex Lawther (star of Freak Show and Netflix hit The End of the F*cking World) continues his upward trajectory as one of Britain’s brightest young acting talents.

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